Chicago

April 22, 2008|By FROM NEWS SERVICES

Mom dead, alert issued

The mother of three children who were abducted late last week was found dead Monday in her home on the Northwest Side, police said. The woman, Sophia Garcia, 30, was found dead with a plastic bag over her head in the 1700 block of North Harding Avenue, officials said. An Amber Alert was issued for her three children, according to State Police. Fernando Casanova, 11; Karla Casanova, 7; and Oscar Casanova, 6, were taken from the 1800 block of North Richmond Street on Friday.

Daley dedicates new housing

Mayor Daley on Monday dedicated the latest mixed-income housing community to rise in the shadow of the infamous Cabrini-Green public housing projects. Parkside of Old Town, a Near North Side development, eventually will house 776 families in a combination of market-rate, affordable and public housing units. Parkside is one of a dozen Chicago Housing Authority developments in which residents must work a certain number of hours to qualify.

Bomb threat closes DePaul buildings

Two DePaul University buildings were evacuated Monday after someone telephoned in a bomb threat to one of its Loop Campus offices, officials said. University officials canceled all evening classes in those buildings as a result. All other campus buildings, including the remaining ones in the Loop, were not affected. The threat was reported shortly before 5:30 p.m. at the school's Lewis Center building, 25 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago Police Officer John Mirabelli said.